Dishes

Are there little things that your husband does that annoy you, but maybe shouldn't? Does he ever do something to help, but since he didn't do it your way, it's kind of a hindrance? Do you ever feel like he just doesn't pay attention to little details?

Daddy Fuss is the husband of the Year. The Father of the Year. The Man of the Year. Seriously. In an overall picture, I cannot complain. I truly have the greatest, sweetest, most wonderful husband. But every once in awhile, there are these little things that poke up and I wonder why it's so hard for him to pay attention to the details.

The dishwasher is one such thing.
Now, in fairness, when we got married, we agreed that there is "no correct/incorrect way to load the dishwasher," as both of our mothers lectured over and over. But I feel the need, 4.5 years into our marriage to sometimes suggest that while there may not be hard and fast rules as to where everything goes in the dishwasher (besides the obvious ones, of course) that there are, in fact, BETTER ways to load the dishwasher, even MORE EFFICIENT ways.

For instance, in our dishwasher, the center row on the top rack in significantly wider than the other rows. The 2 rows directly on either side of that one are the most narrow and the far left one is the middle of the road. Our skinny blue glasses fit nicely in the skinny row and our big plastic cups fit perfect in the middle one. You can get quite a few more cups in the top rack if you pay attention to this little tidbit. But when you just throw them in without thought, many times you run out of room well before everything is loaded.

My mother always taught me that wooden items should not go through the dishwashing cycle because they will eventually crack and split or warp. I have discovered that my wooden spoons and spatulas are fine if they are on the top rack instead of with the other silverware on the door. But, of course, this takes up lots of room in the top rack, so the plastic and metal large utensils can go on the door without issue.

My husband cannot seem to remember these things. Ever. He regularly puts the wooden utensils on the door and the plastic ones on the top rack (because he knows I have a preference, he just can't remember what it is) and he rarely gives thought to the placement of glasses and cups in the top rack at all.

Now, I admit, he is a WHIZ at the puzzle that is often the bottom rack. If I have just one more pot or pan to stick in the machine and can't figure out how to best squeeze it into the bottom rack, he is the man to turn to. He can pack it all in, often with room to spare. And maybe he's better at that part because it's abstract and my "rules" are not? I don't know. But sometimes it drives me up a wall.

But more often, I let it go.

Because why on earth would I complain when he offers to do the dishes?